May 12, 2013
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When we were building our house;  we went on several trips to Provence.

We stayed on one trip at a wonderful hotel in Aix-en-Provence called La Villa Gallici.

http://www.villagallici.com/en/hotel

It smelled absolutely divine;  so I looked everywhere for a housekeeper who spoke English!

I found one and asked her what on earth smelled so good!

She explained that they used drops of pure lavender oil on the carpets and rugs throughout the hotel!!!

It is a natural insect repellent;  it is a anti-anxiety treatment, and I have been using it at least 4 times a week ever since!

This is a big bottle;  but to use it on our rugs, it is convenient to have it in small bottles that release just drops at a time.This

bottle is to refill the small ones!

I don’t know how to make it!  I do make sachets out of our lavender!

Surprise!

And our little hen hatched 5 baby chicks just in time for Mother’s Day!!!

I transported her chicks to the “maternity ward” coop in this basket!  She is taking great care of them!

Happy Mother’s Day!

May 11, 2013
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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!!

I ran this last year on Mother’s Day, and for anyone who didn’t see it, you might enjoy it!!

I had a wonderful Mother!!

 She was the creative behind my own creativity;  although my father, (whom I cannot remember)  was extremely creative as well!

I owe so much to my mother;  and since she died when I was 33;  I never really was able to thank her for her encouragement

and support of a talent……that really barely had a “job description”  when I started “decorating”!

So, I decided, in honor of my talented and wonderful mother , to repost this “surprise” film  I discovered this past year!  (thanks to my cousin and her contractor!)

I hope those of you who haven’t seen it will enjoy it!  Those who have seen it can push “delete!!

Now we begin the original post……..shortly after we discovered this film!!   (78 years after it was filmed!!!):

So,  I decided to share the thing I  am most  thankful for in a long, long time!

Honestly;  the best “Surprise Present” I have ever received   (that was not alive!)  is this!

I was born in 1947 in Los Angeles;  My mother was 40 years old when I was born (that was a neighborhood scandal!)  I have a brother born in 1938; ( there were blood issues ;  now easily solved);

 however, my mother lost 7 pregnancies after my brother;  who was born in 1939!

My Daddie died when I had just turned 4;  I heard wonderful stories about him;   I have some great photographs of him which I treasure….and are on my walls!

I don’t remember him…really…except little  tiny “snippets”..I never saw him “move”; and I didn’t remember any “mannerisms” or  ”body language”.

My mother was an enormous influence…..we were incredibly  close;  I learned everything I know  from her;  and she was a total pistol;

until Parkinson’s took her down at 67  (YIKES!)  and took her life at 70.

So:  my cousin Paulette calls me to say she found a yellow “Kodak” box with my father’s name on it;  inside is a roll of film with a date stamp of “June  20 1950″

I think it might be my birthday party!   Off it toodles to be turned into a disc!    I put it into my laptop;  and this is the story!

It is a film of them right after their wedding!!

It was a “silent movie” filmed 16 years earlier;  in 1934! It is a movie (when you had to crank it up……and let it wind  out…..and  crank it up again!)

My mother was 26; my father 32; they were married in Yuma Arizona, in 1934!

Right after the ceremony; this person filmed them leaving the “Justice of the Peace” office;

 and off they went to some divine hotel with a cousin; filmed by someone! In 1934!

After they left for the hotel, they were filming each other and talking to each other!

My father took it to the film store to update the film 16 years later.  He knew he was dying;  I think he did so so we could watch it when he was gone!  He died in 1951.

This is the 3 minute film.

Having a movie of my parents right after they are married is great enough;  however, this is the first time I have ever seen my Daddie “move”!

It means more to me than I can express!

One of my friends said it so beautifully!

She said….”this shows the power of film to bring people back to us”!

Watching it, I felt they were blowing kisses at me!

I saw a lot of love here!  Please share your comments!

Pretty darn stylish people;  and the cutest car!  A 1934 Ford Cabriolet with a rumble seat!

An incredible gift!!!

My Mommies Wedding

May 06, 2013
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Well, there is a “secret place”   in Montecito.  Honestly;  even close neighbors barely know it is there!

One can only see it from the water……or walking on the beach going from the “Biltmore” east towards the “Miramar”!

It was the dream job of a lifetime for me!

In 1989, my client and dear friend in Pasadena, Molly Munger,  (her Italian villa by Reginald Johnson circa 1919 is pictured in my “work” section) , told me

that her father “Charlie Munger” had some property in Montecito that he wanted to develop for many years;  and he was

“getting close”!     “I think you want to go up there on Tuesday with Charlie and Nancy” (his wife, her stepmother)!

So I did!

His property  was originally part of a subdivision of a large estate owned by the Hammond family;  and it was slated to be more large condominium  buildings which were built in 1970.

The Montecito community was not happy about these buildings; and they went bankrupt.  Charlie and Warren Buffet (his partner at Berkshire-Hathaway) owned the bank

which had the second mortgage.  They knew that anything resembling the original buildings would be impossible to build.  Charlie also knew that Montecito

was a very special place.  He had been a guest at a very unusual development in Oceanside, California, called “St. Malo”.

It was developed  starting in 1929..(it was the first gated community in San Diego County)!

and a family with a “vision” (from Pasadena, where I grew up)  bought a big bunch of acres……and started a “development” with very strict architectural

restrictions.  This is seriously one of my favorite things I have ever seen on the coast of California.

 It resembles a fishing village of the same name  in the Brittany area of France. That village “St. Malo”

was the inspiration.   Many owners who built houses in Oceanside  traveled there

to take pictures and buy things.

 Many of the houses are extremely authentic;  the people who built them went to France and brought back materials.

The coast of California is not known for its fine architecture.  Far from it.  Frankly, it is pretty sad.  Even pathetic. Never mind!

  “St. Malo” is a jewel on the coast.

An article about it is on the “san diego travel tips”:

http://www.sandiegotraveltips.com/public/Saint_Malo_Oceanside_California.cfm

 Charlie;  being the visionary that he is, thought this would make sense in Montecito!

I went with Charlie and his lovely wife Nancy up to see this property!  YOWZERS!!

Beautiful!  28 acres.

It is a”flag lot”  meaning that the first part of it is behind some beachfront houses….

and then it opens up and there is a meadow and 11 lots around it with ocean views and frontage.  The plan had 23 “condominiums”

(forget every single condominium you have ever seen);  a common clubhouse with a tennis court, swimming pool, kitchen and a wonderful living room with poolhouse bathrooms!

This was in “the planning stages”

Charlie finally got the permits to build a “village” like St. Malo;  and he was starting to build it!

At first, I was hired to “decorate” the clubhouse! (which was not built yet).

Now.  Here is the clubhouse!  Originally, Charlie hired me just to do the “Clubhouse”!  My foot was “in the door”!!

I designed it.  I showed him samples and presented it  all to him in his office.

(there is a farm table with red chairs that don’t show in this picture)…they are to the right!

He said,  ”everything is ok here; except the red chairs.  They need to be dark wood color.”

I leapt up!  I jumped up and down!!!   I shrieked!  ”NONONO!!  THEY NEED TO BE RED!  THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT!”

“It will be so ordinary if they are brown wood!  This project just cannot be ‘ORDINARY’!”

AND THEN I SAID……..(this is the God’s truth;  I could not make this up!)

“And, Charlie, there just needs to be one person doing all these houses you are building!  And it needs to be me!  I “get” your vision!

I  want you to hire me!  I know what to do here!”

And he did.  And I did.

And that is a true story of a dream job.

My title was “Aesthetic Director”!

So, for the next twenty years…….I chose all the “finishes” exterior and interior;  the light fixtures inside and out;

the cabinets, the colors, the floors, the tiles (87 bathrooms all different hand painted tile!

24 kitchens…….all different cabinets and tile!  Whew!!!)

for the 23 “condominiums…the clubhouse ..and for Charlie’s own house, and another house!

There are 11 “houses” (built by the owners….but subject to the architectural restrictions)  that surround the “common areas;

and the “condominiums ” which are all completely different from one another.

This has never been publicized.  So here we go!

Here we are.  On one of the most “primo” surf beaches in the world.  ”Hammond’s” is in every book about surfing beaches.  Charlie had to provide a special bridge and beach access to surfers!  He also

had to deal with the Chumash Indians;  who have a “sacred Indian burial ground” right on the ocean.  The following picture is the meadow (which cannot be landscaped); and the Chumash

have rituals here.  There is a monument honoring them.  This an multi- acre open meadow right on the ocean in honor of their ancestors!

Near  the center  to the left;  you can see the monument!

Here is the monument…..and the Indians have celebrations sometimes in this meadow!

  There are some very low-profile houses along the edge of this meadow.  They had to be low because of the two story condominium

buildings behind  them. ( They emerged from  bankruptcy;  and now sell for millions each!)

The views from these houses (not condominiums) go up and down the coastline;  and the surfing beach is right to the left of them!

This is looking at these  houses across the meadow…..and you can see the condominiums behind.  More

Apr 25, 2013
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Yikes!  What an exciting week!

Fifi O’Neill , the founder and editor in chief of this magazine/book,(and many others!  ”google” her!)

 saw our house and my friend Renee’s house on my blog; ( she expressed interest in both of them)!

 and Mark Lohman (a wonderful photographer, and an old friend)

photographed them both  for this issue!  It just came out;  but it will be on the newsstands until  July 29th!

I absolutely love the job they did with the wonderful photographs;

 (and the writing I think quite captured my philosophy !!  And also Renee’s spirit and creativity )!

Fifi is quite the genius!  She is unbelievable!!

We couldn’t make the printing bigger;  so run out and buy this!  The whole issue is just exceptional!!  You will want to

add it to your library !

It is in markets (my friend from the “Henhouse”, Elizabeth found two in the Safeway!  Cathy my friend in Pasadena found it at “Target!!) and

on newsstands kind of everywhere!

I must say,  every article is definitely  very educational!  I am so proud to be

included in this group of very talented people!!

I actually read the analysis of things that I do!  And I learned a lot!  Much of my work is instinctive!

It is fun for me to see how it is analyzed!

 The cover photograph is of Fifi’s cottage in Florida, where she lives!

Here is the informative, educational, and delightful article on our house!!

Apr 23, 2013
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Sometimes people ask me about “faux” wall finishes.

The walls in our house are not “faux” anything!  They are  lime washed.

 Lime (which is mined out of the ground); is mixed with natural pigments also mined out of the ground in  Roussillon, France

in a way it has been done all over Europe for hundreds of years!

The lime is a natural insect repellent; and this kind of “paint” lets the mortar in old stone and brick houses “breathe”.

(A friend who has an historic  plantation near New Orleans had some serious damage done to her

outbuildings by a movie studio painting with modern paints!)

I absolutely love murals;  and am so lucky to have this one in our powder room.  The animals all around our property

are represented;  it makes me happy every time I peek in there!  We always leave the light on, as there is no window!

(Done by Zoe Designs from Massachusetts;  Brooke and Lena)

 There is our rooster!

 Often, ceilings are ignored and neglected.  I love pale blue ceilings , and use them in much of my work!

It reminds me of the sky! This is pale blue lime wash in the powder room!

  This delightful deer I haven’t seen;  but she may be out there!

We had peacocks for a while!  They “ran away from home”!

This is in our master bathroom;    over a bathtub.  From the tub;  I can see the sky and the pale blue ceiling!

More

Apr 18, 2013
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  Today really feels like spring! 11 baby ducklings!

Just in time for the Piedmont Garden Club!!

The proud Mommy!  It’s the most we have ever had!

The duck house in the rear (from LWB Creations in Georgia) is where she sleeps to keep the ducklings safe!

She laid her eggs and hatched them in the one in the front!

  The ivy is growing new leaves!

I was asked by the Piedmont, California Garden Club to show them our garden and house.

I was so pleased and flattered;  I asked them to have  a picnic lunch in the garden at the long table!

They are coming on Tuesday!

Mar 28, 2013
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My friend and fellow blogger Tracey Jackson

came to Santa Barbara to visit her mother;  and came over to visit!

(These pictures were taken last Spring!  Not by Tracey)

Tracey is a screenwriter, and that is one reason she is such a good blog writer!

She has also published books!

Honestly, in about fifteen minutes, she took some wonderful pictures and posted them!

The title is “Penny Bianchi’s birds in Paradise”!!

Here is the link!

I think you’ll enjoy her blog!

 http://www.traceyjacksononline.com/2013/03/penny-bianchis-birds-in-paradise/

I’ve been taking some “beginning of Spring”  pictures which I will be posting soon!

Happy Easter!!!

Mar 01, 2013
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(Be sure to click on the title to see the complete post!)

In 1997;  we decided to move to Montecito from Pasadena.

We spent our honeymoon here in 1978;  and I had grown up in Pasadena coming up every August!

We sold our house before we put it on the market in Pasadena!

 I looked and looked for an older house;  and my real estate agent almost gave up!

One day, she announced that she was showing me a “vacant lot”!!  Oh no!  I don’t want to build!!

She drove up to this!

(The one house next door is shown above.)

She said,  ”There is a 45 acre nature preserve on one side;  there is the 45 acre property of your Mother’s friend Mrs. Bacon on the other two sides It can’t be subdivided!;

 and there are deer in there!”

She has known me since high school;  and she knew that would clinch the deal!

The day we bought the property;  I looked at this view;  and there was a command in my head!

“A pond wants to be there!!”

I told my husband that day!  He said,  ”Slow down, honey!  We have a house to build; all kinds of more important things!”

“I said, no, you can’t dig a pond with a house in the way!!”

I wouldn’t let go of that!  So he let us have the bulldozers dig a pond!

It filled up with water!

My goal from the beginning was to create a “nature preserve” of our own;  and  a “not too big house”!

I read every book I could find on attracting and keeping birds, butterflies and wildlife of all kinds!

And then I found that the National Wildlife Federation had a “Backyard Habitat Program” to assist homeowners who want to

assist wildlife!  It is a fascinating program that anyone can qualify for; even if you only have a balcony!

I used two landscape designers;  one in the beginning, and then I switched to my favorite!  I

took Margie to the “nature preserve” next door, and said ” I want a landscape a lot like this!!”

Margie listens;  and she can do any landscape someone wants!  Her range is amazing!

The first thing we found out is that our lot is the “drain” of Montecito!  All the flow charts end here!

So there was a massive drainage system that needed to be installed!

The “dry creek” below is connecting one “catch basin” to another!  Designed by Margie to be a lovely part of the landscape!

Margie Grace Links to website

I worked with my favorite architect David Serrurier.  There was another caveat:  The building envelope was 65 feet square;  which meant he had to fit a house, a guest house and a garage

in that space!  The property is over 2 acres;  but it couldn’t have anything built on any other part of it!

The guest house is above.

It feels like a little village!  But the landscaping was crucial to the “animal habitat”!!!

look at the size of the tree on the left.  That was about  eight years ago!

That sycamore tree is 60 feet tall now!

To learn about the  ”Backyard Habitat Program” click here!

 National Wildlife Federation : this links you to the Garden For Wildlife Program/ Backyard Habitat.

Look at all the ducks that come back every year!

I had one duck house in the beginning;  and now have two!

Thanks to my friend in Georgia!

Winston Brown, at www.lwbcreations.com !

Three years after we moved into the house a lady who had grown up nearby looked out the window at the pond, and said,

“I think it is lovely dear, that you put the pond back”!

In shock, I said….”Back?  What do you mean?”  She explained that in the early forties,(before I was born), there had been a pond exactly where we dug it!

Same size, same shape, same.  There were stables here for polo ponies;  and the pond was filled in to make a riding ring!

I still get chills telling that story.  This land spoke to me, that is all I can say!

I keep the duck treats under this bee skep!

They recognize my voice, and come to me when they hear me!  They are wild mallards;  and they nest every year, laying their eggs inside

the duck houses!  If a stranger comes out;  they are “guarded”! And ducks return to

where they are hatched, so lucky us!!

  Here are  the sycamore trees recently!!!

My poor gardener had to “unlearn most of what he has spent a lifetime learning!

“No blowers, no mowers, no hedge trimmers, and I like the roses climbing the trees!  And the vines on the rooftop!!”

We planted a whole bunch of milkweed for the monarch butterflies!  He was completely horrified to see this, above!

Those monarch caterpillars eat all the leaves!!  Yes!  And then they make chrysalises and there are monarchs all over!!

 When my granddaughter was in kindergarten;  I decided to do the “Backyard Habitat” project with her!

We filled out the following questionnaire, and took pictures!

She had such fun!! “Granny, take a picture of THAT thicket!!  It’s like an apartment house for birds!”

She proudly presented this certificate to her class;  and said, “Granny and I won first place!!”

Now, (of course, there isn’t a “first place”!  But she learned so much!)

Now, after 16 years, we have a covey of California quail, hummingbirds (3 kinds), and every kind of bird!

Not to mention, bobcats, coyotes, raccoon, Great Blue Heron, (I have to chase away when there are baby ducklings!)

The lady , (Joan Lentz) who wrote the book , “Birds of Santa Barbara County” identified 120 species in two hours

by their song!

I was outside playing my “iBird  Pro” app on my iPhone and it was making the “Hooded Oriole” song;

and a male oriole landed on my hat!!!

The questionnaire is as follows: 

The National Wildlife Federation is a wonderful source of information on what to plant to attract and nourish wildlife!  It has been the most gratifying

thing about living here!  Hummingbirds make their nests in the tendrils of ivy;  and we even saw one baby fly for the first time when we were standing inside the

guest house front door!  I said, “WOW!  That is a once in a lifetime experience!”

(there were two babies so big they were perched on the top of the nest)

She said, “Granny, was it the boy or the girl?”

You just guess what I said!!

Jan 31, 2013
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This is the continuation of the “restoration” of the Joseph Plunkett designed “Monterey Colonial”  house  we found (finally); in Montecito after a two-year

search for our daughter and her family to move “back to Montecito ” after 8 years in Switzerland!! I consider it one of the “magnificent houses built in the ’30′s!!!”;

by a premier architect in the  ”Monterey Colonial”  Style!

First;  the architect!  Joseph Plunkett arrived in Santa Barbara and worked for the excellent  architect George Washington Smith; and then was

half of the firm “Edwards and Plunkett”.  Unfortunately, he died at 46!!

The fact that he is so famous and he died so young is a great testament to his talent!  The most important part was to restore the house!

Before my next installment of pictures (our daughter really didn’t want this installment….but gave permission with the caveat:

“it isn’t finished being decorated yet!”

Well;  in my world….nothing ever is!  Her choices (my advice;  but completely her choices) of colors, rugs, and finishes.  This is the interim…….but the restoration of this  house has been so educational for me!

So here it is showing a restoration in progress!

My philosophy (fortunately shared by my step-daughter and her husband) is to start with the house!

No complaints!  the “bones” of this house are as “good as it gets” , in my opinion!

You have seen the before!  And one installment of during!  Mostly the exterior!

Here we go!!!  The interior!

There were lots of things to be done before they arrived.

 Let’s start with the entry hall.  (I had been looking for two years;  and  when I first saw this house;  the front door opened;  I looked up and saw the sky!

I immediately thought;  ”this wants to be blue!”  Our daughter agreed!  We tried at least 6 colors of blue!  emailing back and forth…….we waited until she

arrived…..we chose “light blue”;  Farrow and Ball”

(All paints by Farrow and Ball used for the whole house!!)

(I have been a decorator in Pasadena and Montecito for 43 years.,,,never have I stepped into an entry hall and looked up and seen “the sky”!!)

Never!  Here it is!

Here it is!  this is the window one sees when you step in the door!

I thought……”this entry wants to be blue!”

Fortunately;  our daughter    agreed! She ‘got ‘it when she saw it!

we both (and the painter);  learned so much from how colors change according to the “light”!!

One lovely reason to use “Farrow and Ball”  (do not believe one paint store who says they can duplicate these  paints!)

They cannot!  There are way more pigments than any American paint!

Here it is blue!  (Farrow and Ball,  ”Light blue”)

gorgeous!

By the way, this border looks orange in this picture! It isn’t!  It is red;  closer to the next picture!

The daughter had always dreamed of this runner!  I suggested the red binding….she went for it!  She loves it!

This house has the lovely architectural feature of an “enfilade”!

One stands just inside the front door; ( it is a central hall floor plan)  and one can see through aligned doorways  from one end of the house to the other!  Each way. (very unusual in Southern California!) A beautiful architectural feature anywhere.

Looking into the living room!

Terrible picture;  but you can see the formerly heavy brown beams are lovely

now that they are off white!

 The view from the entry to the left!  (one can see through the far doorway the library fireplace !)

(If I were a better photographer)

Tucked under the circular staircase is a charming powder room (behind the white door in the entry hall).

I love the curving wall;  I think it gives it the best personality and charm!

Many people would consider it a “flaw”!  I simply adore quirky and brilliant things like this!

It is so obvious to me (even before I knew the architect)  that this house was designed by a brilliant architect!!

Joseph Plunkett!

The charming little sink was original to the house in 1934;  but it was pink!  She did not want pink (nor did I);  but we found

someone to refinish it!

I was delighted to be able to preserve it!

Next:

The Library transformed!!

One of the things that bothered us  was that a window in the beautifully paneled library

had been removed to make into a TV cabinet!  Thank goodness the window itself, and the outside shutters had been saved!

What a difference!!  This is when we removed the cabinet.  Great care was taken (by another owner)  not  to enlarge the opening;

 and so everything fit perfectly back together!   And look at the light!  And the view!!

This, below, is after the restoration;  you will notice that we painted the backs of the bookcases to match the paneling.

The fireplace was an “antique” in 1934!  And the restoration of the “window”  was important!

The antique pavers on the floor were left over from our guest house!   A bonanza!

Just enough!!

And the inside of the showers we did in “Brooke and Steve’s pool plaster”!  (of “Velvet and Linen” and “Giannetti Architects”) It looks beautiful!!

You can put pigments in it;  but this is just plain;  and there is a very interesting kind of “patina”!

Brooke and Steve let me bring our plasterer down to their house in Oxnard to see!

Below was the built-in dresser between the bathroom and bedroom.

Nothing wrong with the drawers;  soaked the shiny brass “lacquered ” hardware in some solution!  Painted  the cabinet Farrow and Ball  ”Railings”

And “POOF!!”

Good lines make easy solutions!

There are two windows in this space.  The shutters shut out (interesting name for shutters)  light, views, and also made it impossible to open the windows!

She picked a lovely camel grasscloth wallpaper; and then the mirror was hung!

 The boy’s bedroom has three exposures;  and wonderful views into the gardens!

The house is mostly one room deep;  which is one of the best of its architectural features!

Two of the four bedrooms have three exposures;  making wonderful light and views!

This  post was meant to  show;  and it may (appropriately be called) “The end of during”

Henceforth, “evolving”!

Back to the entry hall;  to the left is the living room with French doors opening to the front terrace and the back terrace;  to the right is the dining room  shown here!  The beams in the living room and dining room were formerly brown. We selected two colors of off-white for the woodwork and the walls.

Both the living room;  and the dining room have French doors on both sides;  opening to the north (this view) and to the south (onto the front terrace).

The view from the dining room!

I am so sorry about these pictures!  The beams and trim are a lovely off-white!  The color of the beams is the same color as the trim!

Going up the stairs, these charming wood valances are over the two windows on the curving walls!

These were also original to the house in 1934!  We plan to paint some detail!

(No curtains/ shades yet here and in the boy’s bedroom!)

Turn to the right is the master bedroom!

Now the Master Bedroom!  Here it was with these beams, shutters  and fireplace before.

The tile “sneaked”  in from the bathroom!

It is the same tile as in the downstairs bathroom!~

 This tile was “much loved” by the truly darling family that installed it (I am guessing 40 years ago!)

(I do tell my clients;  and always have;  try to put simple “permanent” things like tile and plumbing fixtures  mostly white;  because when

you decide you are “tired” of patterns or colors;  paint and wallpaper are easy to change!)  ( This tile

all over the walls and floors of two bathrooms and sneaking into the bedrooms and dressing rooms  was not easy to change!!)

No more tile; painted the brick, and used some leftover marble from the downstairs counter on the hearth.

She loves carpeting in a bedroom;  it makes it very cozy and this carpet seems like an extension of the hardwood floors!

I love it!!!

Beams removed.  Such a pretty shaped ceiling!  Again, this room has 3 exposures and beautiful light and views!

It also opens onto the balcony that runs the length of the front of the house!

Pool plaster shower and walls;  ”borrowed light” ceiling ;  new cabinet

with a space for either a dressing table or a free standing  bathtub.

“Pool plaster”  shower, limestone floors and countertop of beautiful new cabinet!

A medicine cabinet on the left and the right! (behind the mirrored panels)

Thank you Brooke and Steve of Velvet and Linen and Giannetti Architects and Giannetti Home for the pool

plaster!

Here is the view from the master bedroom, bath, other  bedrooms of the mountains and trees!

That redwood in the right corner is so

tall I can’t even estimate!

 These mountains are beautiful!

this is the view from every bedroom;  the living and dining rooms!

At the top of the stairs;  turn left and there are two “jack and jill” bedrooms  (in this case they are jill and jill’s)!

Two bedrooms that share a dressing room, two walk-in closets and a bath!  The girl twin and her older sister each have one!

Such a perfect set up!

 This bedroom had a  mural on all four walls!

They primed the walls before the ceiling and I came in!  I said;  ”YIKES!!!  Save that ceiling!!  I LOVE IT!!!!”

Fortunately, my granddaughter did too!  Two hand-painted birds are building a nest!

And it is a lovely sky!

I  LOVE  HAPPY ENDINGS!!!

The second bedroom which shares the dressing room and bath!

Still awaiting headboard and a few things!

(DON’T FORGET IT “ISN’T DECORATED YET!”)

Two exposures;  facing East and South!

Farrow and Ball “Calamine”!

This daughter is 16!  She loves “pink!”

Their bathroom was done completely in “pool plaster!

A new bathtub;  and another cabinet made “on site”  (the way they did it in 1934)!!

Again, like the master bath;  limestone floors and counters;  in this case;  the splash had to have the faucets and spout come of of the wall to give more space!

Gorgeous!  (to me!!)

I hope you enjoy!

Funny story.  Our housekeeper was helping at this house;  for this daughter

and a man came in!  He said….”I saw this house on the internet;  I need to know the manufacturer, the colors and number of the paints on the outside!

( Our housekeeper is very, very smart!)

She said  ”I will ask”!  ”Mrs. Penny”  (I love that!)

So;  here’s what!  If anyone wants the names and number of the colors;  let me know!

I will list them all!

One of the greatest beauties of Farrow and Ball;  is their “sample pots”!

Colors changed from room to room more than I ever thought possible!

The painter and I thought we were losing our minds!

(this has been my painter for 16 years)  !!!

Critical in selecting a paint color! You

paint enough on the wall……and you look at it at all times of the day!

Take advantage, I suggest, of this feature this paint company provides!

(no I do no advertising)

I have no connection with Farrow and Ball!

I was just desperate to replace my favorite supplier “Fine Paints of Europe”!!

(20 years?)  The company  that supplied them just “went out of business”

And “my”  (Rick is such a part of my team…..even though I cannot employ him full- time;  I try to keep him “employed in the family!!”)

“Old School”  (you should see him……he is the coolest looking ‘surfer’ you will ever see!!)

And he is of the “old school” when it comes to painting!  He subscribes to my bible…..and that is “preparation, preparation, preparation!!”

This is the rear of the house !  The center window with the balcony is the window in the staircase where you see the sky!  To the left is one of the “Jill”

bedrooms;  to the right of that upstairs is one of  the master bath windows.  Downstairs, the middle window is the powder room, to the right is a living rooom

French door,and to the left is the dining room!

The repaired gate in the center of the back garden!

This is what Sara Dillard (one of my favorite bloggers and writers)!

calls an “axis”  It is in the center of the hedges in the back garden and creates

a lovely focal point on axis from the center of the house!  The entry hall!

 Steve Giannetti suggested this “cathedral ceiling” in the porte-cochere!

What fun it is!

This lovely, classic house will continue to evolve! It is a house that is not too small for five people;  and not too “big” for two!

Steve Giannetti has designed a terrific “playroom and guest room and bath in the garage space on the right in this picture!

(on his iPad to scale…it was a wonder to watch!)

When they can;  this will be the next project!

The most exciting thing of all is having our grandchildren back from Europe; and our daughter

and son-in-law so close!

Our daughter says, every time she drives in the driveway, she “pinches herself” that she really lives in this house!

We all feel incredibly fortunate!

I am especially grateful for my “team”!  None of this could have been done without my

absolutely amazing team!  Alfredo;  the most brilliant “jack of all trades” he made all the cabinets, the replacement french door screens,

repaired all the hardware; I could go on and on!

Joe;  the best electrician in the world;  (and the handsomest!);

Rick the best painter in the world,and all the wonderful subcontractors who fixed all the

things you could ever dream of!

It is now the “best of all worlds!  The quality and beauty of an “old house”;

and the benefits of a “new house” with all the electrical, plumbing and heating updated and

energy-saving!

Dec 13, 2012
10 Comments RSS

 Yesterday,  I was stunned when I received a post by my new friend, Julie of TG Interiors!

She wrote me to ask if she could speak to me about how I started my career;

and she wanted to see if had had advice for young people

thinking about a design career!

She lives nearby, and I invited her to lunch and we spent a nice afternoon chatting about our business!

I was so touched, I cannot tell you by this beautiful  and generous post!

I was touched, and thrilled and surprised!   You will see why!

Thank you , Julie, from the bottom of my heart!

Here is the link:

http://tginteriors.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-day-with-penelope-biancha.html

Dec 05, 2012
7 Comments RSS

Hi!

May I introduce Mari, who wrote this lovely guest post about one of my favorite things:  ”Butler’s Pantries”    (I need a butler!!)

Hello, everyone! I’m Mari, a writer for Arcadian Home, a fabulous online place to find chandeliers, lighting fixtures in all styles and finishes, and stunning home decor. I am delighted to be visiting with you today to share a guest post about charming butler’s pantries.

Also known as a serving pantry, a butler’s pantry is a room, large or small, that’s most often used to store china, glassware, serving pieces and table linens. Often found in large older houses, these convenient spaces seem to be showing up in lots of new construction, especially sought after by homeowners who do a lot of entertaining. Here are eight beautiful butler’s pantries that just might have you dreaming of your very own. Please enjoy!

With a gorgeous apron sink, this spacious butler’s pantry is not only extremely functional but beautiful as well. An ornate little chandelier joins under-cabinet lights and up-lighting at the ceiling.

With back-lit shelves, this enormous butler’s pantry is at once rustic and contemporary. Where the home is located in Alabama, USA, this awesome space is called the dish room.

This narrow pass through butler’s pantry was featured in The Hampton Designer Showhouse 2010. With a traditional feel and pretty neutral palette, the space contrasts nicely with the more colorful dining room beyond. I love the juxtaposition of a crystal chandelier and the contemporary globe pendant light.

A tiny but convenient butler’s pantry has been carved out of what might have once been a closet. The black chandelier brings a bit of whimsy to this rather formal space.

This hallway butler’s pantry has custom storage from floor to ceilingóplenty of room for table linens, silver, china, glassware and serving pieces. The red, white and blue rug brings a bit more color to the space.

Marble countertops are a lovely contrast to the rich wood paneling and cabinetry. Antique copper pans and molds are a charming addition.

A bit more rustic, this country style butler’s pantry features open shelving, butcher’s block countertop and beadboard backsplash. Hammered copper stars here in the deep apron sink and pendant lights.

Another even more rustic space offers lighted cabinets with multi-paned sliding glass doors that go all the way to the ceiling, plus closed storage in lower cabinets and lots of counter space for serving. All in all, this is one charming butler’s pantry. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

What do you think of these charming butler’s pantries? Leave us comments below, and be sure to check out Arcadian Home for more dazzling pendant lights, lighting fixtures, and home decor!

Nov 27, 2012
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What I love about slipcovers is so many things!!

My mother was from the “South”.  (Lucky me in so many ways having particularly to do with the “HOUSE!”)

She taught me to have four………yes four…… seasonal sets of slipcovers for my furniture.

(My  goal is four;  I now have three;  and I will have four!”  In this post I will show two out of three.)

First of all;  when a new season starts;  I get a” new house”!  It’s almost like having 3 houses in one.

It is just a joy!  Even my husband gets excited.

The very first day of “fall”  The  old “Oriental” rugs rugs go  back down;  All the pillows change, the slipcovers change on the furniture;

 and it does almost look like a different house!

My lifelong collection of antique paisley shawls, antique needlepoint (collected for decades;  even  some made by me) ;

and the fall cozy colors emerge to  replace the Summer pillows and fabrics.

The banquette is covered with my antique tapestry pillows;  collected over my lifetime.

Some were found on a trip to Dallas;  to do a “speaking engagement”;   for which I was paid generously . ( I came home with divine

antique tapestry pillows which were made from an 18th century tapestry chopped up and made into pillows; and none of my “fee”!)

Boy did I have fun  (And what pillows they are.)

The tapestry was falling apart; there is nothing wrong in this…….

the lady who made these exquisite pillows rescues the intact , fragile parts of the tapestry;  and makes exquisite pillows

with antique trim, hand-dyed velvet, and down fills.

They must not be considered “pillows”!

 (They are 18th century works of art preserved for all these years and bringing joy and beauty

hundreds of years later as fragments)

(just explain this to your husband…when he says….”WHAT did you pay for those pillows???)

(You can do it!)

(this lecture has been delivered to many clients;   Most often successfully.)

Here are a few examples:

This is one from Dallas.  There is a village scene around this tree.

This little creature I found in the flea market in Paris.

You can see that collecting things can give so many layers of beauty and meaning to your house!

(This is our new dog, rescued from a freeway onramp)!  The dogs are fond of the banquette;  and the leopard blanket came from Bunny Williams

recommended dog bed source:  (Wally beds ; totally washable)

So to begin;  this is fall.  This is our “big hall” a combination living-dining room……

AND THIS IS ABOUT SLIPCOVERS;  AND THIS IS

FALL!

This picture shows a lot of the furniture!  with……

The fall slipcovers.

Deep rust Fortuny on the ottomans;  teal on the chair seats, tapestry pillows and some quilt on the banquette, and the rugs and paisley

by the fireplace! (one of the two fireplaces in the room).

Rug and cozy seats around the fireplace on the “seating” side of the room.

(there are two fireplaces one at each end.  One at the “seating end”;  and another at the “eating end”.

Still at the seating side of the room

My husband’s incredibly talented uncle’s “book box”.

We inherited it.

Lars Bolander (the chicest antique dealer alive),  carries a copy all hand made……..go to

www.larsbolander.com and see for yourself!  And buy something.   The best!

The “chicest”  thing I think I own! ” Arce Bianchi”!  He was a taste-setter, bon-vivant, and  a major “patron of the arts”

In San Francisco in the forties, fifties and sixties.

The stool is from the thirties.  My old friend gave it to me along with our “sphinxes” on our front terrace.

A “safari in the thirties”.

This is the opposite side of the room!

Directly opposite the other fireplace!

Its oriental rug is a cozy addition.

This is the dining area: this area has its fall and winter backwards Fortuny.

Again;  Slipcovers.   And end of FALL.

NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT SPRING!

HERE IT IS!  THIS TRANSFORMATION STARTS MARCH 21st.

 TAH DAH!

SPRING!

The main rugs go to storage and the pretty peach floors show.

Cushions pale yellow silk;  ottomans yellow Fortuny.

Different pillows and quilt on the banquette.

This close-up shows the spring pillows in better detail.

By the way, the valance is two antique valances sewn together found at an “Antique Show”

Antique shows are great places to find vintage textiles.

And my antique toile coverlet with the hand embroidered work salvaged from some  beautiful old sheets made into a pillow by my friend Kathy

(Pillow Beach on Etsy)

Nov 19, 2012
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Hi my friends and followers!  And thank you to the new followers……..I am struggling and my assistant is helping!

By the way;  I am working on the second edition of “during” with the Monterey Colonial!  I have a new assistant……I don’t know how to blog pictures well..

..blah blah blah!  I’ll get there!  I hope you can be patient!

I decided to “interrupt the program”  with  this, a truly heartwarming story !

And I think YOU ALL will have feelings about it!!

Background:   After being in business for 17 years;  I was first “published” (every decorator’s dream!  I think!)

Perhaps not;  but it’s always been mine!  (not to be “famous”…but,  to be able to inspire others to surround themselves with beauty!)

 And to help show them how!!    I started in 1970!

 (decorating;  not blogging!  I am not Bill Gates..just so you know!)

The first time I was published was in 1987;  in a one-issue magazine called “Tiffany Magazine”

 It was published once……and it never hit the newsstands……it was an celebration of 100 years of Tiffany’s;

 and it was given away at numerous fund-raisers all over the country!

 I almost died of excitement!  Beautifully photographed…….(I have no idea how they found me!!  And our house in Pasadena!)

Second time was for a TV show! “Dream Living”  about “people who live in their “dream houses”!!

(Lord have mercy….it is still on some channels…once a month I get a message…..or speak to an old friend…….

“Yikes!  I was in this hotel surfing the channels and there you are leading a tour through your house in Pasadena!”

How funny is that!?

 Yikes!!  My goal achieved!  ”timeless decorating”!  That is my philosophy !

Next time was 2002;  in Traditional Home magazine!  Be still my heart!

 I was so excited I couldn’t stand it!  I had heart palpitations on the way to the mailbox .

 My new friend Bonnie walked into our brand-new house;  and exclaimed……….THIS HAS TO BE PHOTGRAPHED RIGHT AWAY!”

 And back she came the next morning with her camera!

She was (unbeknownst  to me;  a “scout” for Traditional Home”!)

As excited as I was;  the magazine articles  used to go into the stratosphere!

 The only feedback (and believe me I don’t mean “only” in a negative way)

was a “letter to the editor” the following month.(they post very few, understandably;  this letter to the editor is still one of my “peak experiences”!)

It said,    (or something like it)! ” I enjoyed  seeing the house that Mrs. Bianchi designed and built in Santa Barbara;

 and I especially loved to see how Mrs. Bianchi used the furniture from her former house in the one that she just built.”

I don’t have that exactly right..but you get it!  15 years after being “published” in a small  (yes, rarefied)  magazine;

 15 years later this lady in Maine is loving my way of reusing!!!??!!    (it is my religion!)  my “things”!

I had to go find a copy of “Tiffany” magazine to see the pieces she was talking about!  (I asked for 20 copies;  I just had to find them in my house!)

Yikes!  I can’t even describe how happy that made me!

The feedback that showed  one decorator learned  something so important and elemental to me!  Honestly;  maybe I am easy to get excited…….

but that was a major milestone  to me!  ”Use what you have!”  Good Grief!

And that is the only feedback from several magazines I was featured in subsequently  (the thrill never diminishes!;   by the way)!

In the “olden days”  when any of us were published;

it just went out into the “ether”!!  I adored it;  but none of us had really any idea

who read what or who liked what……or any of that!

The internet;  as we all know, has changed our lives and our businesses profoundly !

Tonight I received an email!  And here it is!

I was choked up with tears in my eyes!  Totally wonderful for me and all of you;  in every way!

Look what happens!  Astonishing!

“Hi Penelope,

I just read your sweet reply regarding my name, Poppy, at Tone on Tone, Loi Thai’s wonderful blog. I was so moved by your lovely words that I clicked onto your name and your blogger profile came up. As soon as I saw ‘interior decorator’ and  ’Montecito’, I recognized you from a magazine article featuring your beautiful home that I had bookmarked in one of my decorating magazines! I clicked onto your web page and then onto ‘Press’ and, lo and behold, it all came back to me! Your gorgeous home and impeccable style were the first things that inspired me in the job of designing our first country home, here on the island of Crete, way back in 2002.

Today, ten(!) years later, to have been noticed, albeit because of my name, here in blog land, by the person who influenced my design style, is truly serendipitous!

I am a Greek Canadian living in the Cretan countryside, and I have been writing about my home in the village since May of this year on my blog: www.poppyview.blogspot.com. Interestingly, your name is derived from the great Penelope, wife of the hero, Odysseus, who is known for her faithfulness and feminine virtue, in Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey. In my case, my lovely daughter nicknamed me Poppy (after the flower’s delicate quality and colour), a long time ago and friends and family picked it up immediately; it was the most natural thing!

It was a pleasure to ‘meet’ you! I still can’t believe my luck!

Hope you’ll drop by Poppy View sometime, and have a look around.

Sincerely,

Poppy”

Now it is me, Penelope again!

Can you wrap your mind around this?

Exquisite and heartwarming and soul-feeding;  and words fail me!

(Whenever that happens…….I say  ”YOWZERS!!!”)

I cannot imagine anything (except from my family) moving me the way this did!

I was almost breaking into tears standing in line for popcorn at the movies!  I bailed…tears streaming down my face! (no popcorn for me!)!

Honestly;  one of the most meaningful and soul-strengthening things I have ever received!

And I am sure you all know why!

Sheesh!

I hope you all understand that there is no “bragging” going on here!  (I do not mean to “brag”)

It is just “MAJOR”  to me that I,  (completely unknowingly),  helped a woman build the house of “her dreams” on Crete!  in 2002!  Because of the article she read

(and SAVED) for 10 years!

She thinks SHE is excited!  I haven’t even answered her yet!

I have to go to sleep first!  I am way too filled with emotion!

I am posting this before I even go see her new blog ! (I think I am new, and I am, but she started in May this is just this last May!)

How lovely of her to send me this incredible feedback.

Thank you Tone on Tone;  (for having such a great blog that people in Crete are reading your beautiful ideas!!) That is a wonder in itself!

and thank you for publishing my comment……

 thank you Brooke…..”Velvet and Linen”..without you I would not have a website…..and this thrilling thing could never have happened..

Thank you , you wonderful woman.

And thank you all my subscribers!

If I knew how;  I would send you all a personal thank-you note!

I will learn how;  but until then, please know I get so excited every time I get an email…new subscriber!

I will get back into the swing of things as soon as possible!

Penelope

Oct 13, 2012
24 Comments RSS

Hi there all my friends!

I am so sorry!

I am back!

I am so sorry this has taken so long!  I am so enthusiastic and excited about it!

My assistant (who helped me endlessly with my blog left to travel;  and I thought I knew more than I did how to do it!

(the blog, I mean!)

This is such an exciting thing for me;  and I want to share all the things I have learned!

Here goes the first one!  The “exterior” during!  And that doesn’t even include the garden!

This is a Joseph Plunkett designed house built in 1935 in Montecito, California.

He was a very respected and accomplished architect here.  He contributed to the magnificent City Hall here;

 he designed our beautiful original airport,  the “Arlington Theatre”   (drop-dead amazing and beautiful);

the original “Paseo”   ;  contributed to the “City Hall”  (famous throughout the world)!!!~

 and many other buildings and houses is Montecito, Santa Barbara, Ojai and Santa Ynez!

He died at 46;  which is even more astonishing that he designed so many buildings that are so well known for their artistry!

I thought I would do one post on the “during”!

There will have to be more than one! I am starting on the “exterior”!  And this is the first of the “during”!

The post on the “before” was my last post!

Here is the “Monterey Colonial” house I found for our daughter’s family here in Montecito!

Their goal was to “move back!”I started looking two years ago!

I knew when I walked in the door………this house took my breath away!

I knew it would take a lot of work to restore it;  but I didn’t really know   HOW much!

Sad to say;  this house had been neglected in ways many  older houses are!  It is called “deferred maintenance”!

It is extremely common in old houses!

This house  was first  in 1935.  By one of the prominent architects who worked in Santa Barbara during the twenties and thirties.  He

designed a few wonderful houses;  and unfortunately died very young at 46. His name was Joseph Plunkett.

This house is a complete treasure!  I hope I will show you why!!   I am going to start with the exterior!

(To begin with;  this house looks in pictures as though it was yellow.  No.  Pink.)

Many people do not know the importance of painting “correctly”;

in dealing with an old house (it is always more expensive than just slapping on some paint)!

Great advice on my friend Leta Austin Foster’s blog…….”Decorating with Sheets”  ”when to call in the specialists!”  She is one of the best

decorators on this earth (in my opinion);  and her explanation of the importance of “specialists” cannot be better explained!

My darling friends Brooke and Steve Giannetti  I asked to come see the house!  They did and they loved it!

Steve solved the “roof problem”!

(one of the items of “deferred maintenance”!)

No where in Santa Barbara County can you on a put a new wood roof!

 So he showed me the absolute best “fake shake” roof!  (my skin crawled at the notion of ‘fake shake’;  until I saw Steve’s solution!)  Thank you Steve and Brooke!)

There is simply not one single “composition roof” that looks like real “shake”!  Except this one!

The roof was on its last legs.  You could see sky when you stood in the attic.

 And the roof is huge!  It goes across the entire  house;  over the “porte-cochere” and the two and a half car garage!

The wood shake that looks appropriate on this style of house is now illegal to use in much of California;  due to the risk of fire;

so Steve Giannetti sent me this picture  with this color and this maker of  ”fake shake” roof which as you can see is

” as good as it gets”!  It is “Cedarlite” and the color is:”Silverwood”!         Thank you Steve!  It looks gorgeous!  (Just so you know;  he also explained to our “head guy”

how to treat the side views so they didn’t look like ‘fake slate’!

This makes a “huge difference by the way!)

Here are the “planters” inset in the brick front terrace!

This was where the “leggy hags” lived!  My total favorite Tara Dillard expression!

So inside those brick “planters”  will be boxwood and an Anduze pot with a  topiary “cone”

Instead of “leggy hags”

This is planter bed our daughter found at a chateau in France!

The exterior of the house had not been painted in over 35 years;  and it was pink, with turquoise shutters!

The amount of preparation to sand and prepare the exterior woodwork and brick and stucco was mind-boggling!

It took 4 painters over 4 months for the inside and outside.  (Fine painters)  Nothing is more important in

the restoration of a fine old house than fine painters.

I often say to clients:  ”nothing is more expensive than ‘cheap painters’!

Without the proper preparation;  harm will be done that is almost unfixable.  Hire “cheap painters” at your own risk!

It was completely worth it; because it will now hold up for many years to come.

 We spent a long time on the phone!

The roof off; and the shutters off preparing to paint!  This looks like it is yellow;  but it was pink!  Honestly, pink!

The  new colors for the exterior are :  the brick and stucco are a “creamy” off white  ”New White” by Farrow and Ball”)

and the whiter trim is “Pointing” by Farrow and Ball;

and the shutters and front door are “Black Blue ” in “full gloss” Also Farrow and Ball!

Now we start the new colors outside!

Here is the “before ” front door!

Please excuse the photographer (me)  the new front door!

Well;  it was a neglected “beautiful woman”;  in m opinion!  It had simply not been “kept up”!  And houses( and people)  do deteriorate when they are not “kept up”!

I saw this house as a magnificent beauty in dire need of restoration and “heavy cosmetics”!

The bones..as so many of you commented were perfect!

This is the exterior!  For my next post…….I will do the “during” of the interior!

Yikes!  It is such an exciting thing to bring a beauty back with restoration!  This house reminds me of the model “Carmen”!

She is gorgeous at 81!  This house is 78!  It needed help……but the “bones” were perfect;  and no “remuddeling” had taken place!

the entrance to the dining room from the back terrace……..(don’t forget;  one room deep!”

Who thought of an outside fireplace in 1935?

Joseph Plunkett!

    One chimney serves 3 fireplaces in this house!

Living room, this outside, and upstairs  in the master bedroom.  All use one chimney!

Masterful!

Now we see the new color scheme!

I think it makes a “magical” difference!

Just my opinion!

The chimney looks so pretty as “a part of the house”!

We do love the new , more classic, colors!  That chimney was a bit of an eyesore!

(I am having a bit of a crisis!  Newell Turner (my friend;  editor of House Beautiful;  recently  promoted to “editor of all Hearst Design Publications”!!

Liked it “pink and turquoise!)

Oh well…..

Look how the shutters really “work!

They have no curtains or anything yet!  This is what shutters were invented for!

(When was the last time you saw a “shutter” closed?  Let alone not being nailed to the house and completely the wrong size!)

Sep 07, 2012
25 Comments RSS

For two years, we knew our daughter and her family

were moving back this fall; and wanted to buy their “first house” !

  Time to buy their first house!  Yikes!

I have looked at just about every family house in Montecito!  And I saw some wonderful houses “dying on the vine” because of the colors, the furniture, and also, the “tile”!

The truth is, most people cannot “visualize”!  They see what is there; they cannot see what “can be”!

This is one of them!  The second I drove into the driveway;  a feeling came over me……….and when I walked into the front door…….”I knew it!”

  I thought I found one I thought was “perfect”!!

The key for me is this……a good size for five;  and still a good size for two!

That is what I saw when I saw this house!

This is the “before”!  This is the former owner’s furniture.

This is how I saw it the first day!

This will be fun!

 I am particularly fond of an architectural style known as “Monterey Colonial”.

 It started in Monterey, California

with an adobe with a second story and a balcony across it.

One of the first houses in this style is the famous “Larkin House” in Monterey; pictured below.

How perfect this looks to me!  The pitch of the roof….all of it! I think this is beautiful! Built in the early 1800′s!

The renowned decorator Frances Elkins bought an historic house in  Monterey,”Casa Amesti” built in 1830 and she  ”restored” it;

 and greatly enlarged her decorating practice because she did such a good job.

 In fact; she became the “superstar” decorator

all over the United States because  of her start in her “Monterey” at “Casa Amesti”;

 and her partnership with her brother, David Adler!  Such a happy story!

This architecture “married the Spanish-Mexican building materials adobe bricks and redwood

with the rectangular block and center-hall interior plan of an Eastern colonial.”

One of the hallmarks of this architecture is the second-floor balcony.

 Frances Elkins bought Casa Amesti in 1918.

She took a “falling down wreck” and with her brother, the architect David Adler, turned it into the “showplace of northern California”!

It was largely because of her that this style of architecture became very popular, in California particularly.

And it was because of the beauty and sensational taste she exhibited in this astonishing

house;  she had a following all over the United States……California, the midwest and the East!

she was talented beyond!

She decorated most of “Pebble Beach”; one of the loveliest residential areas in California.

She was immensely successful!  There is a book about her; written by Stephen Salny……(such a good writer!  And a GREAT BOOK!)

She was “the” California decorator in the twenties, thirties, and forties!!

San Francisco, Pebble Beach, around Lake Forest in the midwest, and back east……..(she was the “IT” girl) in terms of decorating!

And she kind of “started Monterey Colonial”!  She set it “on fire”!

“Frances Elkins Interior Design” by  Stephen Salny   (when I use quotes;  it is from his book about her!)

This is her house in Monterey; which is on the “National Register”

I grew up in Pasadena, California, and  the “Monterey Colonial”  was a very popular style there.

 They were built  in the “golden age” (in my opinion) of architecture in Pasadena,

and California;  the twenties, thirties and forties.

Some wonderful architects used this style a lot.  My favorite architects who were designing during this period were Roland Coate,

Reginald Johnson, Gordon Kauffman, and George Washington Smith.

Here are a few in the neighborhoods in Pasadena.

As you see here, the traditional colors are cream or white, with white railings and dark shutters.

Black-green or black blue.  And , please note most have “real working shutters”;  not skinny stuck on fake ones!

Imagine my surprise to see this “Monterey Colonial” in Montecito!!

I love, love the architecture;  it was designed in 1934 by  Joseph Plunkett, a very famous architect in Santa Barbara.

You can’t tell very well;  but the house was pink!  With turquoise shutters!  Even the non-traditional colors could not hide the beauty of the architecture!

The lovely balcony goes across the front of the house and there is a curving stairway up to the balcony over to the right.

Three magnificent oak trees span the entire front.   These trees go along the ground .

Usually these trees are “trimmed up” and these are really unusual and create privacy from the street.  I am a third-generation Californian…….I have seldom

seen trees this magnificent……and they have been lovingly maintained for  77 years!

These trees are over one hundred or one hundred and fifty years old!

In California……this is a serious rarity!

So;  I fell in love in the driveway;   then I go to the front door!

I  walk into the central entrance hall and  I see the sky!!

The oval entry hall I fell in love with at first sight!

To your right is an “enfilade” looking through the dining room, pantry and kitchen!  To your left;  you  have another “enfilade” looking through the living room

to the antique fireplace in the gorgeous paneled library!

The house is “one room deep” which is very unusual, and creates both north and south exposures in many of the rooms.

This is the gorgeous paneled library at the end of the left side of the “rectangle”.

If you turn to the right in the entry hall;   you enter the dining room, butlers pantry, kitchen, breakfast room.

To the right of the entry is the dining room with the same thing as the living room

A pair of French doors with sidelights andlights above opening to the back terrace;

and a pair of French doors opening to the front terrace opposite them.

Because of the curving exterior stairs; this shapely and charming pantry (with its original 1935 tile!) has a curving wall!  (one of my very favorite decorators in the world was Keith Irvine;

he and his wife “Chippy” had this tile in their country house and their children learned their

names of animals and fruit from them!)

The kitchen; beautifully remodeled by the last owner;  uses a copy of the tile, and the servant’s room

turned into a “breakfast area and laundry room.Also with north and south windows!

This is the side……the window facing south is to the right……and the french doors facing North……are to your left through the

Breakfast room!

This is the window facing south (which here faces the ocean!  California makes a turn where

Santa Barbara is; so it is a “south facing coast”!

These doors face north toward the mountains  and the back terrace

and garden.  They “opened in” which was a huge problem in the floor plan.  We turned them around……I noticed on the “plans” for the remodeled kitchen……they were supposed to open “out”!

Oh well! Stuff happens!

Back to the entry hall………….and  ………..Up the stairs we go!

At the top of the stairs;  here is another window facing south;  so the entry hall is bathed in light!  (I love the carved valences above the entry hall windows!)

At the top of the stairs;  turn to your right;  and a hallway with closets leads to the master bedroom!

It has three exposures!  Windows facing west, north, and French doors facing south and leading onto the front balcony!

I take an instant dislike to the fake beams (I cannot help myself!)  The fake beams and the can lights just have got to go! And they did!  The room

felt very crowded..I just had to eliminate the furniture in my mind…….lovely room.  Lose the fake beams!

Even with the heavy shutters, the light was incredible!

 The shutters needed to go;  (immediately! I didn’t even know exactly why….it was visceral!)

 I found most of the furniture very oversized and heavy, but the “bones” of the house

were singing to me!

I do often encourage my clients to use plain tile because it is permanent and difficult to change.

It made me dizzy!  And it was in two entire bathrooms; floors and walls!

this was the master; the other one, downstairs off the library!

Now….at the top of the stairs……turn left……(it is so lovely to have a central hall in the middle of the house..

this is a “classic” because it is ‘calming’ and feels wonderful from the second you walk into the front door.

 So much of “architecture and design is ‘visceral’  and there is a reason that central hall houses are comfortable and lovely!  It all makes sense!

This house had been on the market for awhile…..but was very difficult to show.  It was rented out as a “vacation rental”!

Turn to the left and a hallway leads to two bedrooms that share a dressing room and bath.

This room felt small with all the furniture in it;  but I knew it wasn’t!

This dressing room is shared by two bedrooms, and also a bath!  Great closets!

this is the shared bathroom…….this tile was much more palatable……..

but when I learned all the tile in the bathrooms was 35 years…….no.  we cannot paint….that is too long!

The tile had to go…….in all 3 bathrooms!  It was the right thing to do!

This is the “girl’s bathroom!

Brooke taught me about “pool plaster”!  It is so genius!  And it looks so divine!

And we got rid of this tile…….we did “pool plaster” on all the walls…..replaced the “louvered” door with a solid door….put in a cabinet with a sink……..

All these changes are happening right now….wait till you see!

Here is the “before”!!

Steve Giannetti  designed a delightful “playroom” and guest room and bath in the  garage to the left of the “porte-cochere” Genius!

and he wrote on the plans “any chance of a cathedral ceiling in here?” on the porte-cochere! And we did it!

Brooke showed our plasterer her bathrooms in Oxnard done entirely with “pool plaster”!

They are so fantastic!

Thank you, Brooke and Steve!

Here is a view of the lovely balcony across the front of the house!

and here is a view of the “secret” lap pool on the left (west) side of the property behind a hedge!

Divine!

and this is the view from the house……and all the rooms……this amazing  garden and lawn!

The pool is behind the hedge on the left……behind the hedge on the right is an amazing orchard and rose garden.

this is the most lovely house!

This is the “before”

Next……..the challenging “during”!

 I described it to them and sent photos of this beautiful classical house!

It is nothing short of a miracle……really………It has unfolded as the most beautiful house I have ever seen!

(no, I am not exaggerating!)

(what does not show in any of these pictures is the views from the windows!)

The shutters were “boxes” around lovely moldings around the windows;  and there were “double key locks’ on almost every door inside and out..

They “threw off” the proportions of the hardware .  These are things most people would think were

not important…..and they make “all the difference!!”

At the end of the day; the house is exquisite…….incomparable, unimaginably beautiful….and I cannot wait to post the after!

Get your smelling salts ready!

But next………comes the “during’!

“Deferred  Maintenance”

Rears its ugly head!

Anon!

Penelope

Aug 22, 2012
38 Comments RSS

Hi there!  One of my favorite bloggers and commenters asked to see more of my kitchen!

It was from those darling people at “Wilson Kelsey Design”!

Based in the next town to our daughter who lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts!

Another lucky couple who work together in this fun and wonderful profession.

(some people look at me as though I were insane when I say that! But;  I mean it!)

 And I have so loved the comments from people who

enjoy the “stories” behind my things.  Lordy!  There is a story for just about every single thing!I will try not to bore you!

We will start here:   You come in one of two doors from our “big hall”;  and here is one of the first things you see

I flew to New York to go to Sister Parish’s auction!  One of the things I was dying for was this lantern that was in her entry

in her “maisonette” in Manhattan!It went “off the charts”!

Imagine my delight when John Rosselli copied it exactly;  and I could buy four for my kitchen!  Identical;  no one could tell them apart!

Now the  roller shade!

We copied most of the floor plan from our beloved house in Pasadena when we built this.  We did eliminate the dining room!(It was between our “loggia and our kitchen”!

Our first party;  we were on the “loggia”;  and there was the cateress at the sink!  OOPS!!

So I had some French fabric I had laminated (print on both sides) and a shade made with some divine old trim I found at an

antique show!  (Scalamandre  still makes this trim with little wooden apples!)  This shade looks great from both sides up or down!

Next the antique toile behind the chicken wire!

I had artfully arranged glasses and things in this cupboard with only chicken wire!  My housekeeper said;

Oh!  This looks nice;  but where does the food go?  OOPS!  Food!  I forgot, this is a kitchen!

I had this antique toile I had bought at an antique show…..the images just fit the panes!  I wish I could say I planned it!  NOT!!

Lastly, the upper cupboards are the color of the trim in the whole house; the lower (including the two dishwasher drawers) are this dark red.

The painters thought I was on “hallucinogens ”  You can see;  the fabric on the skirt ties it all together;  I invited them all back to see the kitchen finished!  5 different colors!

More

Aug 13, 2012
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A few weeks ago,  Mark Lohman, an excellent and well-known interior and exterior photographer

(whom I have known for many years!) called me about a new magazine!

“French Country”!

Fifi O’Neill, the editor ,has written books, and has two other magazines,  ”Romantic Prairie Style” and” Romantic Country”

Her books are “Romantic Prarie Style” and  ”Romantic Prarie Cookbook”

She has been searching for real “country”  (not fancy, not formal;  but rustic and authentic) French houses in the United States!

My blogger friend Contessa sent her my blog on Renee; and she had Mark come take “scouting shots” of both houses!!

Lucky me!  He took some wonderful shots of things that have not been photographed before!

I hope you enjoy them!

Here are some new angles of everyone’s favorite room!  Remember, the heat is in the floor out here (and all through the house)

and we live out here all year long!  Even in the rain;  I don’t have to move the books!

My Corgi-mix rescue “Pete ” likes this ottoman!

By the way, the paintings on the right are of the identical room in our old house in Pasadena!

This ivy on the ceiling is my favorite, the panel was a shade on an Italian verandah  we found in Florence;  and the Italian stove

is another favorite!

Here are our ducklings getting bigger and enjoying their repaired house!

The main terrace with the previous room behind the umbrella!  The deer is wrought iron!

A pretty plaque on the chimney;  and an unusual way to hide those ugly metal things at the top of chimneys!

The Spring slipcovers and pillows!

My collection of Quimper salt and peppers on the mantle;  and showing how the “convent table” works!  The nuns would work

at the table all day;  then take their dishes out, have a meal, and return them!  Very practical!

The teeny Portugese chair on the table I bought at a museum in Portugal!  I found the identical chairs at an antique shop here in Montecito!

My mother’s first Vertes painting!  (Once, on a tour, a man insisted to his wife that it was a painting of “Mrs. Bianchi”!

 ”Can you imagine having a nude portraitof yourself in your living room?”

 (It was painted before I was born!)

These lovely chickens were a gift from Oprah when there was a tabloid story quoting Oprah complaining about our chickens!

The card said:  ”Contrary to tabloid opinion;  I absolutely adore your chickens!”

This panel in the kitchen was one of a pair I found for a client who only needed one!

The soup tureen on the bottom shelf has chicks poking through her feathers

The cat jumps on this antique stool to reach her food on the island!

Radisha makes us an “initial painting” for our birthdays!  These are Adam’s by his sink.

This is my “pride and joy” Vertes screen which was owned by Gypsy Rose Lee! and my sink on the other side of the bathroom!

More Vertes lithographs mostly from the “Cirque” series!

These books house my millions of decorating books!

The checked ottoman is a pop-up TV!!!

two antique valances and a favorite Vertes silk screen of his dog; an Airdale!

Aug 01, 2012
11 Comments RSS

My very favorite mirror above a fireplace or console is a “trumeau”!

A “trumeau” either has a painted scene or some lovely carving.

 They were always part of the “boiserie”  (paneling) in a french house; and are very popular here, especially

in ” French” houses!

This is what I do know!  I LOVE “trumeaus”!!

Our house in Pasadena……..had three trumeaus in the living room!

 During the eighteenth century , many rooms were paneled with “boiserie” carved and painted.

Above the fireplaces and over consoles they often had a mirror included in the paneling to increase the light.

“Because lighting an interior was a great challenge during this period the use of highly reflective

mirror glass was an integral part of any room. During the reign of Louis XV (1723-1774) and Louis XVI (1774-1792) large mirror plates

were actually placed within the framework of the walls and

 mounted above fireplaces and console tables with candelabra and candlesticks placed in front of them to reflect the light.”

When we were building our house;  I was on a decorating trip to New Orleans with Sotheby’s and I

discovered a pair of “trumeau” mirrors with two different scenes!

I had never seen that before!

Because we were building a “big hall” with two fireplaces , I made an “emergency” call

to my husband!

Happily, we bought them , and they are a delightful part of our “big hall”!

They had two delightful scenes of children playing and even a dog that looked like our dog, Georgie!

 We had a lovely French house in Pasadena, which had  four beautiful trumeaus!

Here is the one that was over the fireplace in the living room

This is looking the other direction towards the dining room   a pair of consoles with trumeaus.

This console was in in the dining room.

This console and mirror were in the entry hall!

The lady who built  our house  in 1957 went to France with her architect to buy these antiques to incorporate into the French “pavilion” she was building!

I am showing examples of others I’ve found!

Pair of Louis XV Style Trumeaux. Ca: 19th C

Jul 14, 2012
8 Comments RSS

We are having a problem around here………I don’t think it is WordPress fault!

Old posts randomly posted……..newer ones posted twice…….please bear with us…….I love blogging….I love WordPress.

If you get a duplicate……please just delete it……and I hope they figure it out soon!  Winston from Georgia!  (Pictures coming!)  I have tried!

I have happy duckling and baby chick news…..wonderful news from the hero from Georgia  (Winston)  who made the new “floating duck house”!!  Giannetti’s field trip to Santa Ynez with Lola; Alixe; Alex;  all sorts of wonders……..and I am having trouble posting!  Toulouse ducks in Santa Ynez;  wild turkeys!  Exciting news to come!  Have to fix “security leak”!  (could be wrong term!)

And a really great (I think!) before, during and after of a really wonderful house……(our daughter’s first house!!) (we are in the middle of during!!)  Something to learn for all of us! Back  to normal soon;  I hope!

Penelope

Jul 02, 2012
2 Comments RSS

The very first time I went to Renees house;  I got so excited I forgot to take pictures of the kitchen and dining area!

I thought the design was so creative and practical that it really should be shown!

So, back I went!  How divine is this bicycle?!  She rides it with “Bittersweet” the Yorkie in the basket!

The trumpet vine amazes me more every time I  see it!

The green cabinet makes one half-wall;   It seems like it was a counter in a butcher-shop or some kind of shop.  The crack in the marble makes it even better!

Her French press and espresso cups are on the adjacent counter with a farmhouse sink in between.  Note the green lantern and sweet chandelier!

The window with the shutters on it look out to the ocean!  The outdoor dining area is straight ahead;  and the most charming fireplace is  in the corner.

Here is “Bittersweet ” on his bed!

On my way out;  just look at the roses…..and she also has the cutest car!

Jul 02, 2012
10 Comments RSS

Well!  After the trauma of the drowned ducklings  (good thing I never had to go to war)

The same  Mallard female trusted Winston’s duck house from Georgia…….and laid 6 eggs in the back nest box!

Another mallard mother trusted the newly fortified ” old” duck house and also laid 6 eggs!

First time ever  (in 14 years)  we have had two female mallards sitting on eggs.  Also the first year we and they have had the luxury of two duck houses!

It is quite a story!

A new mallard mommy laid 6 eggs (they lay one egg a day);  wait until there are at least 6;  they start sitting…….so they all hatch on the same day!

Now; just in case you did not know this……..(wild birds and chickens do the same)  You are in the vast majority !    100 CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies were asked this question!!

2% knew  the right answer.  (We need to educate people about these things…………That is pathetic!)

So the first mallard laid 6 eggs…….we counted!  The first one hatched…….off she went with the first one……..the other five did not hatch!  (my theory….first time…..only child is easier?)

My happy tale is that the same mother mallard who lost her first brood..(because of our leaky house……..sob!)….(we can identify  by some markings on the back of her head)  went to Winston’s new house!

She laid six eggs………and we watched her stay right in there for 2 days after the first one hatched!   Until they all did!  Bravo!  No egg left behind !!!

Winston had that new house here so fast………and I drove a truck!  Winston is the hero!

Here are the pictures!!

  The back house is Winston’s “new house” from Georgia which arrived in 6 days!  This is the female who hatched one chick….left the rest of the eggs in the old house…..and when the new house arrived……well……..here you are!  ”WOW!  This sure a pretty place”!

She laid her eggs and that one hatched in the old place (all fixed up and waterproofed ) in the foreground!

The girl who lost her brood was not trusting that old place……..was so pleased with Winston’s she laid 7 eggs in Winston’s!

I will not bore you with my photos of her every single day for 28 days……..sometimes I could see her beak…..sometimes I could see nothing and despaired!

Then!  Tah Dah!!  Here she was with 7!!

They are honestly the size of bumblebees!

This is the mother who lost all six one day old ones in our house that leaked.

 I am seriously into their survival.

 Mother Theresa…….no…..but” mother duck” I have become obsessed……this mother duck I have a debt to.  I cannot tell you.  I practically slept on the bank.

They hatched!

It is hard to see them!

This is the same mother duck!

This is a happy ending to a very sad story!

And they are still alive; growing up way too fast…….(just like children) !

And I will be starting my before, during and after story of our daughter’s house next!

Penelope

Here is the mother with the “only child”!

(lots of my friends think she is “smart”

easier than 6 or 7 for sure!

I almost forgot the chicks!  Yikes!

Here is the first set of our “mille flour” bantam chicks……..7!

The bobcat has been visiting……and decimating our flock…..so inside everyone!  for a few months!

Look at the little chick peeking out of the Mommy’s feathers!  (I will now get 500 withdrawals )  (I promise there is some serious design work coming)

 Here are seven!

And then the other one hatched 9!

Now comes the “before and after” of what I think may be the very best house in all of Montecito!

Honestly.  It was built in 1935.  The golden era of proper scale; views, proportion…..and   “enfilades” !

Designed by a gifted architect…….who did the airport in Santa Barbara;  the Arlington Theatre……and a few houses…….and would be much more famous had he not died at 46!

Joseph Plunkett..part of  ”Edwards and Plunkett”…

The loveliest house!  I will begin with the “before”!  Where it was when I found it!

Just about the opposite of all “spec” houses and “McMansions” being built today!

Charm, warmth, proportions…….light……exposures……..(does everyone know what that means?);  graciousness and cosy!

Next post!!!

Stay tuned!!!

Jun 22, 2012
11 Comments RSS

Hi there!  Thanks to my reader, Brenda….lives in the South…….

(who may not know it;  but does have a “photographic  memory”!  Thanks to Brenda;

I have proof that Renee has been doing this sort of  imaginative and magical gardens for a long time!!!

Brenda read my blog;  and she wrote me to say…..”could this be the lady in New Orleans?  I have saved these two articles for years!!

Well, YES!!  Is the answer! “Garden Shed” was a wonderful magazine.  I never saw it;  or it would have been one of  ”my magazines”!!

Brenda took the time and effort to copy the pages in the two articles she had saved…….one 12 years old……and one 10 years old.

I am showing  these to you !  My assistant “scanned” them!

My assistant said that this is permissible as long as I credit the magazine (which is no longer around,sadly)  and the writer , which I do again!   And the photographer.!

They look so alike…..and are so atmospheric….and so natural and otherworldly……you might think it is one garden.  NO!  The first  garden was in one not so lovely neighborhood….but it had the same quality………she moved…….(I hope “it” remained!)….no one knew it was there……..no one…..it became invisible from the street.

And then….the other house was bought and inhabited by Renee and Gordon……and the same thing happened…..and “Garden  Shed   with the same photographer ran her creation  again……

as another article about a “genius”!!

 Now Renee Parker-Werner!!

I hope the photographer is still with us and will find this tribute to him, the writer, and of course to Renee!  I bet there is a wonderful story about how those people found her!!

Believe me;  Renee did not seek to be published!  she isn’t a “hermit”; ( she and her husband are just “private people” in their own “slice of heaven”!

When I wrote her husband in the beginning….(after my first  discovery and my  first post..about her…all these comments…..

I was still (and am still…under the spell of their place…..it cannot be captured)

I said to Gordon, her husband…..”she is getting quite the ‘fan club’!” He replied………”starting with me!”

Yes.  That is what every woman dreams of.  Yes.  Three words in answer to that question.  Yes.

So here are the two articles sent to me by my wonderful friend Brenda….  This is astonishing!

Thank you for saving these pages from “Garden Shed “magazine !  Most of all for “recognizing”  Renee!!

Brenda is in a “special world” of her own!

Thank you , Brenda!

Returning to nature;  preserving beauty…..good for wildlife;  magical spaces, wildlife habitat,  instead of mcmansions,

From 2002  and 2004!

Photographer…..Pete Krumbardt

and writer…..Kathleen Pyle

Bravo the writer and the photographer of both of these articles!

Most of all…Bravo Renee who “makes magic” wherever she goes.

Bravo Gordon…..who “hired”  Renee and then “married “her and remains the “captain of her fan club”!

Thank you, Renee…who has shown us all what magic can be made!  Nurturing nature, nurturing family…..birds bees animals and beauty!

You are an incredible example to those of us who want to escape the  whole “lawn suburban nature wasteland”  and you are teaching us we can do it without spending a fortune.

It is possible everywhere!  One can have a “wildlife sanctuary” on a balcony!  Just see The National Wildlife Federation.website!

This is the wave of the future for our “young’uns”!  The future of our nature resides with them!

What a whole lot better I feel now that I know Renee!!

Now enjoy the two gardens she did in New Orleans………and  get started!  this should be happening across the land!  A new Paradigm!

Who wants lawn when you can have birdsong…and natural habitat?

Penelope

(too bad I am not the New York Times)!!

enjoy!!

Jun 17, 2012
27 Comments RSS

“Renee’s Magic” has been a difficult post!  It is so unusual, and so hard to show in pictures.  But here I go!!!

You remember from my post on her garden ;   there is a fabulous trumpet vine that goes all the way around both buildings  (that were formerly stables)

Stepping into the front door (the open one in the picture above),   I thought I was going to faint!!

The  ”trunk ” of the hundred year old trumpet vine was inside! coming out of the floor and going out  the ceiling!

Renee had told me that she bought the gates, the stone pillars and wall; and the paneling in France.  She said, “I left the chateau there, but I brought  part of it home!

Just inside the front door is the “trunk” of the trumpet vine!!!  and a glimpse of the room beyond ! The antique shutters frame the doorway into the next room;

 but first, the rest of the “front room”

Turning to the right at the front door… the fireplace and the two windows you can see on the front of the house…..

and other windows to the left of the fireplace that look out to the ocean view over the rose gardens! That is where her dining table is set; and you can see where she keeps her china!

Then look straight ahead and there is the kitchen !  The kitchen is a step down, and the green marble-topped piece of furniture forms one side.  One side is a blackboard refrigerator; and you can see the stove with the hood above it.
The “entrance ” to the kitchen is to the left;  and the three sides form the kitchen!

More

May 26, 2012
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My friend Bonnie  lives in the neighborhood

where Ty Warner (beanie babies) built the most enormous house in Montecito!

He bought 5 houses on a bluff overlooking the ocean; tore them all down;   (all of them multi-million dollar houses)  and built an enormous “Venetian” Palazzo.

Bonnie called me and said….”Penny;  You absolutely have to meet Renee!  You are ‘soul mates’!”

 ”And I want to be there when you meet her and see what she has created in our neighborhood!  You are going to have a complete fit!!!

 No one knows it is there.   She has made the most amazing creation out of some former “stables”!!!”   She said, “until 12 years ago, there were “hippies” camping out on this property!”

Originally, there was a Country Club on this entire bluff.  Around the turn-of- the- century , these stables were to house the horses for the carriages who came to  play golf and visit!

Renee, by the way, is a landscape designer who also has a “Greek Revival” house in New Orleans .  (that explains a lot)

The first hint of what was to come!  What a mailbox!

I have been by here so many times!  It is right across the street from the Music Academy of the West;  and just the week before I had walked by this mailbox with my grandson, and not noticed

it at all!    I was focused on my grandson;  but usually I notice everything……(good or bad..a blessing and a curse!)

How had I possibly missed these gates!!

I have been by here so many times!  It is right across the street from the Music Academy of the West!!     And these magnificent gates!!

 These are  most beautiful gateposts and gates I have ever seen here!  When I met Renee she said;  ”Oh we were in France when I started here!

I left the “Chateau”  there;    and I bought the gates and posts and the paneling and brought them here!”

 See those grapefruits?  There was an orchard here that had also been part of the Club.

Lovely nasturtiums  sprouting out and about !

This little “moment” just inside the gates!

Following the wide path to where????

When I saw these rusty arched french doors with the beautiful roses climbing on them;  I had an even better idea of what was coming.  However, nothing could have prepared me for what was to come !!  I wish I had Steve Giannetti with me.  I’m just not a great photographer;  but I have done the best I can!!

Look to the left;  raised beds surrounded by boxwood! The sweet peas are climbing up a French “tree guard”!

gorgeous roses!

Some charming fencing to help the roses climb!  No house yet!!!

Coming around the bend….a one story house with an astonishing trumpet vine going all the way around it!!

Right next to the house,  an old pergola (original ) covered with wisteria.

Yikes!  Two separate  houses!

One separate house is the bedroom and bath.  One house the living, dining kitchen! The larger house was originally  one room!  I’m posting the interiors in my next post!

A clever way to hide the meters and things!

The outdoor dining terrace with the most charming barbecue I have ever seen!  It was foggy; but the view from here is across a rose parterre garden belonging to the house next door;  and then the ocean!!  That “view corridor” is protected!  Renee raised the terrace two feet so the view was over the hedge and through the rose garden to the sea!

Talk about a “borrowed view!”

Renee brought her stone sink from her Paris apartment to use outside!

she lets the alyssum sprout where it wants!

This is the path between the “living” and bedroom areas.

This is between the two buildings this  chandelier is here!  Outside……..totally charming…..(I have to keep adding)  it is just too much to do in one post!  even the outside!!

This is the view from her husband’s desk in a corner of the “bedroom cottage”.

This is a little corner with things “in progress”!  Nothing;  and I mean NOTHING is “staged”!  This is real……real living!!

This is the chimney of the fireplace in the “living cottage”;  and evidence of this trumpet vine that goes all over the entire two buildings.  If someone made me pick my favorite thing in the entire place;  I would pick the next picture.  It is the trunk of the  120 year old  trumpet vine INSIDE THE FRONT DOOR!!!  It is a miracle beyond that it has survive intact!

It had a “guardian angel” protecting it.  Nothing like this whole stable, the pergola…….the trumpet vine……nothing like this has survived here in Montecito……or any other enclave with wealth….and the ability to change.

This reminds me so much (first thought in my head……Tara Dillard…..and the “Poverty circle.”

That makes so much sense;  I believe it it……..how on earth did the poverty circke

This slays me!

When she barbecues she “just moves the vines away”…and then puts them back when it’s all cooled off”!

The top of the barbecue chimney is the top of a dovecote found at a “brocantes fair” in Provence!

This is a glimpse of the lovely house next door which owns the rose garden!

May 14, 2012
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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!!

I ran this last year on Mother’s Day, and for anyone who didn’t see it, you might enjoy it!!

I had a wonderful Mother!!

 She was the creative behind my own creativity;  although my father, (whom I cannot remember)  was extremely creative as well!

I owe so much to my mother;  and since she died when I was 33;  I never really was able to thank her for her encouragement

and support of a talent……that really barely had a “job description”  when I started “decorating”!

So, I decided, in honor of my talented and wonderful mother , to repost this “surprise” film  I discovered this past year!  (thanks to my cousin and her contractor!)

I hope those of you who haven’t seen it will enjoy it!  Those who have seen it can push “delete!!

Now we begin the original post……..shortly after we discovered this film!!   (78 years after it was filmed!!!):

So,  I decided to share the thing I  am most  thankful for in a long, long time!

Honestly;  the best “Surprise Present” I have ever received   (that was not alive!)  is this!

I was born in 1947 in Los Angeles;  My mother was 40 years old when I was born (that was a neighborhood scandal!)  I have a brother born in 1938; ( there were blood issues ;  now easily solved);

 however, my mother lost 7 pregnancies after my brother;  who was born in 1939!

My Daddie died when I had just turned 4;  I heard wonderful stories about him;   I have some great photographs of him which I treasure….and are on my walls!

I don’t remember him…really…except little  tiny “snippets”..I never saw him “move”; and I didn’t remember any “mannerisms” or  ”body language”.

My mother was an enormous influence…..we were incredibly  close;  I learned everything I know  from her;  and she was a total pistol;

until Parkinson’s took her down at 67  (YIKES!)  and took her life at 70.

So:  my cousin Paulette calls me to say she found a yellow “Kodak” box with my father’s name on it;  inside is a roll of film with a date stamp of “June  20 1950″

I think it might be my birthday party!   Off it toodles to be turned into a disc!    I put it into my laptop;  and this is the story!

It is a film of them right after their wedding!!

It was a “silent movie” filmed 16 years earlier;  in 1934! It is a movie (when you had to crank it up……and let it wind  out…..and  crank it up again!)

My mother was 26; my father 32; they were married in Yuma Arizona, in 1934!

Right after the ceremony; this person filmed them leaving the “Justice of the Peace” office;

 and off they went to some divine hotel with a cousin; filmed by someone! In 1934!

After they left for the hotel, they were filming each other and talking to each other!

My father took it to the film store to update the film 16 years later.  He knew he was dying;  I think he did so so we could watch it when he was gone!  He died in 1951.

This is the 3 minute film.

Having a movie of my parents right after they are married is great enough;  however, this is the first time I have ever seen my Daddie “move”!

It means more to me than I can express!

One of my friends said it so beautifully!

She said….”this shows the power of film to bring people back to us”!

Watching it, I felt they were blowing kisses at me!

I saw a lot of love here!  Please share your comments!

Pretty darn stylish people;  and the cutest car!  A 1934 Ford Cabriolet with a rumble seat!

An incredible gift!!!

My Mommies Wedding

May 09, 2012
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WHEW!!!   You haven’t heard from me in a while.   We had a duckling disaster!!

Six baby ducklings hatched in our duck house.  Last Spring we had nine at the end of March, four in July, and nine again in August, all of whom got as big as their mother;  and off they flew after 53 days!

This year, April 19 they hatched;  and the first night, It poured rain like I have never seen here!

The next day I could see only two ducklings;  and I was beside myself!

More rain;   and no ducklings!

I had no idea that the wood chips had become soaking wet; and the poor mother duck was trying to keep her ducklings warm;  and she couldn’t!!

This is the repaired old duck house;  and the new duck house from South Carolina!!!  Today the new one went into the pond!

More

Apr 15, 2012
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I posted the very beginning of Spring a while ago.  Some people say we have no “seasons” in Southern California!”

Yes we do!!  Spring is in full swing!!

DO WE HAVE SPRING???

YES!!!!!

We have a handsome new deer trophy!  (wrought iron)  in a proud position!

The house is fully cloaked with ivy!  (People ask me why I bothered to pick a color of the plaster!)

You can see the plaster in the winter;  all the leaves turn colors and fall off!

I found a wonderful “dovecote” from the estate of the wonderful artist, Jack Baker!  I’m hoping doves will make nests!

The arbors are covered with different roses!

This giant azalea is as old as I am!  There are pictures of me as a child next to it!  It is in a big pot!

These roses all came from the wonderful place “Rose Story Farm” in Carpinteria!  They only have old roses;  and roses that have fragrance!!

(I learned there  that you have to leave your nose smelling for a full ten seconds to get the fragrance!)

This is the stupendous  (I think!) view from the window by my husband’s desk in his office!!

“The maternity ward” has a hen with five chicks!

They are so fast!

Can you see the wisteria in the tree?

Our grandchildren’s clay art works are displayed on this table!  It’s their “Art Gallery”!

This is the “olive allee” with its focal point of an Anduze pot we bought in Provence!

and our lovely “faux bois” bench from my friend Janice who owns “Janus et Cie”!

 Our proud “trophy “!

I

at night….I learned from Tara Dillard!!  Pretty to see in the windows!!!

Another angle!

The roosters are so happy to have their tails back!

I love the damp and mossy stuff on the pots!  and the other rooster!  (I AM SO SO lucky to inherit pots !!)

Tara says to buy pots and garden accessories that people will “fight over, at your estate sale!”

A happy rooster!

We really do have Spring , Summer and fall in Santa Barbara!

The only thing we really don’t have is “Winter”!  I must admit!

I almost forgot!  Here are the “Spring slipcovers”  They go on the first day of Spring!!!

A lovely little bird took a tuft of our cat’s fur (I put it on the bushes when I brush her) and flew off to put it in her nest!

I’ll do another post  about the garden when it’s Summer!

And we have a mallard sitting on at least 8 eggs in the floating duck house!  I will show you right away when they hatch!!!

HAPPY SPRING!!!!

Apr 07, 2012
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 Here or click on the image above

Mar 30, 2012
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These pictures were taken two weeks ago, around the middle of March!

Many people think we don’t have seasons in Santa Barbara;  but I am going to show you that we do!

You can see the wisteria; which not only looks beautiful, but smells sublime!

It creeps across the front of the garage, and around the side through the “sweet olive”!

This is pretty much its prime;  no leaves yet!

The finial fell off the duck house;  I am not replacing it until the end of the summer!  The wood duck loves posing as the finial!

wood duck!

The juvenile black-crowned heron takes turns!  And there is a mallard sitting on eggs in one of the nest boxes!

This heron won’t hurt the baby  ducklings;  but we chase the Great Blue Heron out of here when there are baby ducklings!

Our Boston ivy comes in red in the beginning;  red leaves are not appealing to birds.  The rooster is happy to have his tail feathers coming back!!

From the other side!

The real roosters didn’t lose their tail feathers!

This shows a glimpse of our mesquite front gate.

This shows the mesquite railing that goes across a small stream from the pond ! It is interwoven with willow; so it is a living railing! The willow loses its leaves in the winter.

Hardenbergia  vine blooms in the winter (the purple one) and the white potato vine (a type of jasmine) blooms 12 months a year!

Chickens busy at bug finding and eating!

The crabapple fence just starting to leaf out in the herb garden!

These steps are petrified wood!

I love the rock edging on the herb garden; and the lavender planted in gravel.

This is our “Certified Backyard Habitat ” sign!  My granddaughter was in the first grade when we went online; filled out the application,  and sent it in with photographs.

It says  ”This property provides the four basic habitat elements needed for wildlife to thrive:  food, water, cover, and places to raise young.

It has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation as an official Backyard Wildlife Habitat Site.”

We are very proud of that!!

Our gardener planted these native iris two years ago as a surprise;  he didn’t think they “took”;  but look at them now!!!!

When the gardeners on our lane “blow” (mercifully only once a week) , they leave the pile of oak leaves for us!!  My favorite path material!

more iris!

More hardengerbia and potato vine and chickens!

In a week or so; I will post what it looks like further along in Spring!

Mar 26, 2012
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In 1961, my very talented mother was in Paris on a trip.  She had admired an artist throughout the 40′s and 50′s.  His name was Marcel Vertes;  and he was an Hungarian who lived in Paris until the war;  and then he lived in New York.  He was working in all kinds of mediums.  My mother was in advertising;  I think that was when she first started following him.  He did all the advertisements for Elsa Schiaparelli ;  her “Shocking” perfume;  even designing the bottle!

He also won an Academy award for set design for “Moulin Rouge.

She timed her trip to coincide with a show of his oil paintings at the Katia Granoff gallery.

In researching for this blog post;  look what I discovered!!! A blog post about Marcel Vertes with my bedroom in it!  I had never seen it!

Feeling Pink with Marcel Vertes

Hungarian painter, printmaker and illustrator Marcel Vertes (1895-1961) was full of whimsy, as evidenced in the gorgeous series of ads he concocted for Elsa Schiaparelli’s 1937 scent Shocking Pink.

Vertes and Schiaparelli not only worked on this campaign together, they also collaborated on the 1952 film Moulin Rouge, about artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Another ad for Schiaparelli’s Shocking Pink.

Here is an original bottle of the perfume. The curvy torso was inspired by Schiaparelli’s client, Mae West.

Vertes hits the bottle of pink paint again for this portrait of Coco Chanel.

For this buff pink room in designer Penelope Bianchi’s Santa Barbara home, she hung Vertes’ work from floor to ceiling. Photo from House Beautiful. Gorgeous.

POSTED BY BUNNATINE DREAMS 

This was the beginning of a lifelong collection of the work of one artist by my mother, my brother, and by me!

“Columbine en Vacances”

This is a beautiful one that was above our living room mantle while I was growing up!

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We had a fire in 1982, and one of my mother’s Vertes oils was lost.  I bought this one from  my dear Tony Duquette and Hutton Wilkinson;  and after I had purchased it, they told me it had belonged to Elsie de Wolfe.  My mother gave me her book, The House in Good Taste; which had inspired me to become a decorator!!